Cadillac is gearing up to transition to all-electric power, and with that transition will come new styling and design changes across the model line. Additionally, the Cadillac badge itself is changing, going to a monochromatic color scheme.
Cadillac has already made the transition to a monochromatic Caddy crest with a new 2D logo on its websites and social media channels. The new logo is the same familiar Cadillac crest, but with black and white filling the center of the crest, rather than the multi-colored crest used previously.
The new crest is repeated in the grille and body of the 2023 Cadillac Lyriq all-electric luxury crossover, the former of which includes an illuminated backing. Unsurprisingly, this new design approach is a sign of what’s to come with regard to future electrified Cadillac models.
Meanwhile, in the present, Cadillac already offers monochrome badging on a variety of models, including the Cadillac XT4, Cadillac XT5, Cadillac CT5, Cadillac CT4, and 2021 Cadillac Escalade. Starting with the XT5 and CT6 back in 2017, the brand introduced front fender-mounted silver logos, while the available Onyx Package first introduced on the 2021 Escalade includes monochrome logos mounted on the grille and liftgate.
Essentially, the new design direction will opt for monochromatic badging and illuminated Caddy crests as the transition to all-electric power is carried out.
The 2023 Cadillac Lyriq will be the first Cadillac model to offer all-electric motivation. Making its debut in August, the 2023 Cadillac Lyriq will come equipped as standard with a 100 kWh lithium-ion battery pack utilizing General Motors’ latest Ultium battery technology. Motivation will be derived from a single Ultium Drive permanent magnet electric motor. Output will be rated at 340 horsepower and 325 pound-feet of torque, providing upwards of 300 miles of range between plugs. Under the skin, the Cadillac Lyriq will ride on the GM BEV3 platform.
The arrival of the 2023 Cadillac Lyriq will precede a variety of all-electric Caddy models to follow, including the Cadillac Celestiq all-electric flagship sedan, two additional crossovers called the Optiq and Symboliq, a sedan/coupe currently known as a “low-roof” EV, and an all-electric iteration of the Cadillac Escalade luxury SUV.
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Comments
Here we go now! Take a seat and stay out of the way here.
Ok goof
Here we go where? And do you have your safety helmet on?
Just taking a seat to watch the flood of petty complaints.
And look just like clock work.
What’s petty about people having there own opinion? I mean what I’m reading is people don’t care for the black and white logo and I don’t blame them. I think the Cadillac crest is a good looking logo and I to like the colored version but hey it is what it is.
See my post below. Boring emblems have little bearing on the success or failure of a brand. Complaining about the emblem is petty in the big picture.
When was the last time you passed on buying a new car just because of the emblem.
Target the disease not the symptom if you are going to complain.
Be honest the old school hood ornament with the wreath and crest was the best. 😎
And it represented the best in class, Cadillac.
At a time when the Cadillac brand was getting killed by the German and Japanese luxury brands, a time when the average age of its customers was significantly higher than that of its competitors, I commented on the GM-Volt website that Cadillac ought to get rid of the ‘funeral’ wreath that surrounded its classic badge ……which in fact they did do with the next model year.
I’ll take the blame, and do it without shame. That wreath carried a subliminal message that the Cadillac brand was old and out of touch with younger buyers which they desperately need.
@StuartH: Now that’s a stretch. Total BS, but whatever makes you feel better. You may wish to read up on the wreath and crest.
What the wreath around the crest was supposed to represent is not necessarily how it might be perceived in the real world. Cadillac was having big-time image problems and I saw the wreath as something that could be perceived in a way that contributed to those issues. Apparently so did the Cadillac image department and the wreath got dropped.
In Cadillac’s glory years, the badge was underlined by a large ‘V’ which had many positive associations – V for victory. For power.
Cadillac color print ads in the 50’s played with the V theme in fashionable, elegant ways with expensive necklaces headlining the ads in the shape of a V. There was no mistake of the classiness and desirability of Cadillac then. The Standard of the World was the image put forth. It all worked together.
Today Cadillac is using the V on their high performance specialty models. Perhaps the V could come back to be put underneath the badge on all Cadillac models.
BTW – I’m in total agreement with the thumbs down consensus regarding the blanked out badge. Mystifying.
This is the 4th or 5th new logo on a generation yet sales keep falling. (Hate crest, btw)
People don’t buy a logo. It’s only a symbol that should be emblematic of quality and style. Logos should only change for an image reboot or the industry wide flip to 2D because it looks more modern on smartphones.
Tell that to the group studies that were done on brand recognition. The roof multiple car designs and just changed the badge to another company and watched people have preconceived notions. It makes sense to change it up for a new era. The wreath less era was Cadillac rebuilding, the next change was unknown to us, sunsetting the internal combustion. This latest works with the electric future. I just think they squished and stretched it a bit to much but we’ll see.
Not mentioned is a brand logo’s continuity.
The Chevrolet bow tie works, and had had just a few updates to fonts and the like, but remains the bow tie.
UPS’s emblem has always resembled a package, but remains basically unchanged.
Ford: See Chevrolet. FEW changes, but recognized everywhere.
Buick has had several changes in my lifetime, and some were gawdawful.
I doubt General Electric will ever change a 100+ year old logo, they are not fools. It’s known everywhere.
Same with Mercedes, Auto Union, Rolls Royce.
Cadillac has cheapened theirs over the past 20 years. It’s a luxury brand, and a cheap badge may not subtract from sales, but it still looks cheap.
Yup I agree with everything you said. You are right about GE I don’t ever see them changing there logo. I just feel that the old school Cadillac crest logo especially the hood ornament one was a sign of luxury I can’t put my finger on exactly what but to me at least that it what I always associated it with.
The Gentle Grizzly: You nailed it.
The very worst logo change I can recall was when Radio Corporation of America went from an admittedly Art-Deco-ish RCA with a lightning bolt underscore to something that was supposed to represent stylized computer printing. It was horrible.
Oddly, it was around this time that their record label went from some of the finest pressing and quality control techniques to some of the worst in the business.
It’s a cheap badge for a cheap brand. Does anybody actually think the Lyriq is classy and tasteful? It’s cheap and tacky looking with its all plastic front end with cheesy LED light show. The whole effect is trendy at best and the blandification of the logo fits right in with how gm just keeps cheapening Cadillac. The logo will likely soon be just all black geometrics to better align with the brand’s new lowered positioning.
It’s also notable that Cadillac hasn’t shown their Cellistiq concept which I can’t imagine finding any buyers. After all, who would spend $200,000. on a trendy, tacky looking Lyriq-like sedan build by a brand so adamant to erase their heritage which was the only selling point they had left.
Cadillac has deserted their customer base. I often wonder if they found a new customer base, or will they just go out of business.
I saw a new Escalade recently that had a two color paint job. It was very ugly.
It seems to me that GM has replaced the top person at Cadillac, more often than any other car brand. The first thing the new person does is raise the price without adding any content.
Where is Bob Lutz when you need him? Are there not any more car guys around?
Cadillac did not desert the customer base. Cadillac failed to keep with the changes of the market and failed to keep solid leadership with a vision.
When the market in the 80’s went AWD and RWD with more sporting models GM made small chrome laden models with FWD. That is not where the market went. Then they doubled down on FWD till they finally figured out that the Market was RWD.
Now they have the cars but the market has moved to sporting CUV and SUV models. So GM now is trying to pawn off rebadged GMC and Chevy models as a Cadillac. Only one is really working well.
GM management had a solid leader but then he left as they would not let him bring a cohesive program to the division. He was a car guy and he left as he was over ruled.
Now our hope is on them actually having class leading relevant EV products. Time will tell as we have seen only one.
In the end the emblem really is small beans.
C8.R: I disagree. So please explain why Cadillac sales have continued to decrease to a point where they aren’t even in the top 3 luxury sales? Yet, look at their sales back when you seem to be claiming that they took the wrong path with front drive. Seems to me like several others on here are correct when they (like I say as well) that Cadillac has turned their backs on the loyal customers and people like me. Watering down the storied emblem, yet again, is just one more example.
Cadillac’s demise is decades in the making. GM thinking they could run a luxury decision on the cheap! Mid line platform sharing, building blinged up uncompetitive crap in the 80s and 90s.GM masterminds destroyed Cadillacs image because to the bureaucrats image meant nothing! Only thing that mattered was building them as cheap as possible.
Look at the terrible fake wire wheel cover, vinyl top, weak outdated engines, old outdated platform things Cadillac devolved into, as other makers were building to the future. GM masterminds worked for decades destroying Cadillac to little more than a punchline. GM mastermind sold what they said was Cadillacs to the last generation of people who remembered when Cadillac meant the best. Now they are gone and memories of Cadillac as something special died with them…
Cadriver: I will disagree. Things you mention (wire wheel covers, etc) were being used by many brands in that same era. And I don’t think anyone, including me, is saying they should bring them back. Platform sharing? Everyone does it now and did it then too. Time to move on from that tired old rant.
My opinion is that Cadillac began to lose their way in the mid 90’s when they began to abandon names for German-like letters/numbers. Then the did away with seats that people liked. Then the styling. By the time we got into the 2005 on up, they had essentially killed the brand while attempting to re-brand themselves to attract buyers who (IMO) were never loyal to them like the true Cadillac buyers were in the past.
Tom,
The new gm full size SUVs are just ungainly looking in general with overly tall, top-heavy proportions. The tack-on Cadillac package just adds pseudo luxury bling to a bad design.
Ci2Eye: Boy, do I agree with that. When they first showed them, I thought they looked great. By the time they hits the streets, there was just something that looks off with them. After seeing them for some time on the road now, they are all quite top heavy looking and badly proportioned.
And the c pillar design as well as the messy trim adorning it is cringe worthy…it actually looks 80’s quality Cadillac. Ok, getting off topic…but the logo is the least of the worries.
Not4one,
Yep. The first time I saw it (the new Escalade), I thought the C-pillar looked like an auto parts store creation from some taste-challenged person; not something gm themselves actually designed. The whole effect is tacky. Unfortunately I think it appeals to the demographic Cadillac is going for today and the Lyriq does too. When I cringe looking at these new Cadillacs I have to keep reminding myself that they are not designed to appeal to me. It’s like looking at a Civic Type R which I think is horrendous but I know it’s not meant for me. Those who prefer classic elegance and timeless design with simplicity, like Cadillac’s own CT6, won’t find much to like with the garish plastic light-up front end on the Lyriq or the overwrought tacked-on “galvano” side trim of the Escalade.
As for the badge, one more comment: These Cadillacs aren’t worthy of wearing the same badge as the great cars of the past so it’s appropriate that they wear a pared down, de-colored facsimile of the original. It’s like Cadillac is acknowledging the new products’ unworthiness themselves.
Sometimes I think they should just change GMauthority’s name to “My PEARLS!!!” or “GM Fainting Couch”. It would better represent a good portion of the community here.
Or they could change it to Andy is the dictator and what I say goes and I only wanna talk about politics. And anyone who has a different opinion then me Is a woman hater.
I never brought up women. Why are you making it about GENDER?!?!?!?
You mean you want a pass since this is the first time you have been capable of not talking about politics or race/gender?
Just ignore Andy. He is very toxic who carries a bad aura wherever he goes and needs to be on mental medication like Donald Trump.
All the post I read from him have no relevance of each topic ever.
👍
Why is everything nowadays going this mono look? Cheap and boring looking. I would put a color decal on top if I bought one.
Cadillac switching from Bright, Vivid and Colourful to that of Drab, Bland and Boring!
I guess I should go out and purchase a B&W tv 📺 again as this seams to be the direction that Cadillac and gm want us to head in.
Welcome to the “Dark Side” of gm! Buy at your own risk ⚠️
Hopefully the monochromatic badge won’t last. I sure help the birds return at some point.
When I ordered my Cadillac XT5 back in August, I wanted to purchase the “Radiant Package” to get the Grill and Chrome 20″ wheels. I, however, decided in the end to order just the grill ( as it gave me the coloured emblem I wanted ) as I noticed the package forced me to take the monochrome emblems which I did not want ( $200+ individual option ) so gm in the end lost out on the sale of the 20″ Chrome wheels too!
To me this is all about the stupidness that lies inside gm’s underdeveloped thinking skills. Just like when Chevrolet’s Bowtie emblem went from having a blue bowtie to that of a gold bowtie and now I see them pushing a black bowtie on many of their new vehicles. It just never ends!
Give me a full color wreath and crest, lets others know I am best.
A beautiful multi-colored emblem now turns into a cheap looking monochrome who knows what. Its all about the money.
The caddy badge changes all the time. Not a huge fan of the mono one though. I think a much more modern thing they could have done is use LED tech embedded in the front badge that illuminates the badge in multiple colors. LED’s come in all colors now so should have been easily done. It would have been a pricey badge, so just do the one in front.
I agree and I think if Cadillac had backlit the color emblem with multiple colored LEDs (like you said) it would have made Cadillac stand out from Audi, Mercedes-Benz, and Lexus instead of just trying to follow. This feels like GM is trying to play a little bit of catch up instead of taking the lead.
didn’t buick try this a couple years ago only to return back to the traditional tri-color badge? The monochrome badge loses some of the design or character, it now looks like a bunch of lines or black boxes that could easily be overlooked. Not a good move in my opinion.
tmw: Yes. Buick tried this when I was still selling them. Huge failure. Let’s hope the idiots at Cadillac who made this decision get fired and the next person reverses this stupid call.
Yup I agree 100% Dan.
Unless Cadillac changes to solid state batteries they are going nowhere. Americans need more then 300 miles on a charge. All they will sell is a going to the market car not a road trip car. Solid State batteries is the battery of the future, it is safe, long range(900 miles on a single charge) 5 minutes to charge. This is the future.
The 2d version of the badge does not match the images of the badge on the vehicles — the blacked out and white parts are different.
Other automakers have recently released flat, black & white logo redesigns (Volvo and Nissan come to mind). It’s part of a larger ‘flat’ trend that has been around for the greater part of this decade. More recently there’s a newer trend that’s emphasizing gradients, which I’m thoroughly enjoying. It will be interesting to see if that ever gets adopted by auto designers.
I though that auto manufacturer badges were supposed to represent something about the Company, make a statement or become an endearing image of the brand.
This new Cad badge looks like it was redesigned by the department in the basement and didn’t get forwarded upstairs to be finished.
I don’t care if it’s a colorful emblem or a black and white emblem I just want my 2022 diesel Escalade!!
All the complaining over something so simple. Reality is, GM knows the number of buyers who are actually changing/ordering the monochromatic emblems. The buyer speaks.
Apparently all the complainers here aren’t actual buyers.
GMC Fan: And you know this how?
I had a 2020 CT4. The very first day I had the car home I removed the absolute stupid CT4 and 350T junk on the back and replaced it with the beautiful Cadillac script along with an actual Cadillac name. I constantly had people coming up to me asking about it and saying how much better it is. I recently sold the car due to the huge increase in values (got more than I paid for it including all taxes and fees). However, my CT4 had both the colored and mono-tone badges. Had I kept the car, those ugly mono-tone would have been replaced with colored ones.
I’m still waiting for the return of the ducks.
Understand that many on here know my opinions already. So no surprise that I dislike this decision. I think what’s missing with Cadillac is a passion for the car, it’s history and understanding what a Cadillac is really about. I blame the imports and the import buyers for this and the fact that Cadillac has abandoned it’s base.
For those on here who say changes like this don’t matter, why?
For those who say Cadillac has changed it’s emblem many time. Ok, so does that make it right or smart?
For those who seem to think that those of us who dislike these changes are just being dramatic, do you not have a passion for anything?
Take a look at other brands like MB, BMW, Lexus and so on. When is the last time they made changes like this? They don’t or they make such minor changes that it’s not even noticeable. Why?
I can’t wait till someone takes back the reigns at Cadillac and brings back real names, correct emblems, smaller rims with bigger sidewall tires for better ride, and seats that you can ride in all day without feeling pain.
Dan, I blame the imports and the import buyers for this and the fact that Cadillac has abandoned it’s base. Im not being argumentative her. Cadillac’s import competitors are not the problem. They built modern desirable cars and were successful. GM masterminds chose to build dated undesirable backwards looking cars to cater to a shrinking number of people that bought Cadillacs because they remembered them at there best. GM bureaucrats knew they would buy them and needed to do little other than keep the status quo and not invest in Cadillac’s future, but to milk its former glory till nothing worth having was left.
Simple fact…. Bad, useless, clueless, soulless, CHEAP, lazy GM management ruined Cadillac…..
The Cadillac base died. Lincoln embodies what you describe and it’s a flop.
IT JUST HIT ME! The new emblem is cheaper to make!!!! there is the answer!
Now that, Cadriver, is a very true statement!
What took you so long?
Cadillac needs a brand manager like stores such a Bloomingdale’s to handle logo tweaks, vehicle names (iq nomenclature does NOT sound smart), overall marketing.
Steve Carlisle should be dealing with dealers, interviews, working with designers but luxury products need a luxury manager if they are going to sell on the coasts.
Steve,
Didn’t Carlisle leave? I think he was about one manager ago. Admittedly it’s hard to keep up with the revolving door managers.
Truth be told, like GM’s corporate logo, there is simply no good reason for changing these logos at this time other than the fact that someone in marketing has nothing better to do with their time.
The only Cadillac’s that should wear a blackout emblem should be the Blackwing Editions and not the Luxury or Premium Luxury editions. Sport versions I guess it could be optional for.
Brings to mind Robert Conquest’s law of bureaucracies:
The simplest way to explain the behavior of any bureaucratic organization is to assume that it is controlled by a cabal of its enemies.
gm should go one step further and make the Cadillac letters lowercase, like this :
c a d i l l a c
Keep it all consistent, you know.
GM (gm) should take it an extra step and script it in lowercase too. c a d i l l a c.
I think this is one of the most commented threads, if not thee most, on gmauthority.com.
Wow !! 🤓
Have a 2024 XT6 AWD Premium Deluxe and I had the logo’s changed from Monocrhome to the Color logo’s. I am not a fan of the Monochrome. I prefer the Cadillac colors.